The Riser Chronicles - Episode One
by Yajuu-Kikuishi
Summary: The world is slowly descending into the madness of crime, and with the police being only half effective, how can the world be saved? Well, S.T.A.R.T. Labs has put a plan into motion, a plan that will bring the world the heroes it so desperately needs. But is it only heroes that it is creating?
1. Preview

**Coming Soon…**

* * *

Superman? Never heard of him.

Justice League? Nope, nothing.

Superpowers? Don't be stupid.

Now, a particular lab has decided that the world needs the heroes it never had.

**The Riser Chronicles – Episode One**


	2. Prologue

**- Prologue –**

Metropolis was known as the 'City of the Future' for many good reasons. One of them was the fact it held the most technologically advanced building in the world in the form of its central media station; the Daily Planet. The towering skyscraper that was the Daily Planet was world famous as being the best news service in all forms of new-reporting media; newspaper, television, radio. You name it; there is probably a form of the Daily Planet to go along with it. However, the Daily Planet isn't where all the action happened in Metropolis, it was just the largest.

One of the many other wonders of the 'City of the Future' was the Metropolis Central Bank. The bank, commonly shortened to MCB, was built only recently, and was the accumulation of masses of state-of-the-art defence technology. The idea was the brain child of Dr Erik Huntington, the foremost mind of the century. He had the idea that the banks of Metropolis, which were many, should pool their resources and their clients into one central banking system for the whole city.

Of course, the banks themselves fought the idea, but Dr Huntington was too well renowned to fight against; as well as extremely rich. So it was done, and Dr Huntington used his various connections to gain the best defence system in the world to make it impossible for anyone to steal anything.

Metropolis' pseudonym as the 'City of the Future' was not entirely positive however, as crime ran rampant in the city, showing a grim future to the rest of the world. With a police force running out of manpower and becoming increasingly ineffective, the minds of Metropolis worked ever harder to give the city technology as a means to escape the crime. The MCB was just one example of how technology was fighting against crime more effectively then the police force ever could.

"Yes, perhaps this will do."

The figure was stood on the far side of the street, across the busy road from the massive building that constituted the Metropolis Central Bank. It was mid-afternoon and yet everything was still busy; cars drove from point to point and people bustled along the sidewalk in an attempt to reach their destination without trouble. The figure was causing a little bit of a stir since he seemed to be the only individual not moving; also, he was dressed peculiarly which made people avoid him even more.

Despite the hot weather, the sun was clear in the sky, the man was wearing a heavy woollen overcoat that hung to his knees. Under which he wore a zip-up hoody, black jeans and heavy military style boots. Although that in itself wasn't necessarily strange, the reason most people were avoiding him was the fact that he had his hood drawn over his head and a pair of mirrored sunglasses hiding his eyes from view. As well as that, he was wearing a pair of leather gloves; he kept fiddling with them as if he was unused to wearing them in such weather.

The figure crossed his arms and tipped his head to the side as he looked up at the massive pillars which lined the front of the MCB, leading in to a mirrored glass front and a pair of fair sized doors in the centre. The MCB was a mix of ancient and modern architecture, giving it a bizarre, yet pleasing to the eye, look. Although unseen behind his glasses, the man was scanning the building intently, looking over every inch until he straightened his neck and dropped his hands to his side.

With a shrug of his shoulder he stepped forward, dropping off the curb, right into the path of an oncoming car. The driver slammed on the brakes and the vehicle swerved slightly to the harsh force, screeching to a stop inches from the man's knee. The angry driver scrambled out of his vehicle and shouted at the figure about being an idiot, but was ignored as the figure continued to cross the road. The driver thought for a second about following the individual, but decided he had more important things to do, so he got back into his car and accelerated off.

The figure caused two more cars to screech to a halt, resulting in more obscenities, before he stepped up onto the opposite curb and headed towards the glass doors that would give him entrance to the building.

The MCB building was built so that anyone entering through the front entrance would have to pass through a small corridor, which housed metal detectors and two well-trained guards, before being able to access the main commerce room. The black clad figure pushed his way through the set of glass doors to entire the transitional area and walked slowly towards the guards and the detector he would have to walk through.

Almost immediately the guards perked up at the sight of the hooded man, with dark glasses hiding his eyes, and as trained moved together to intercept his movement. One guard hung back a step with his hand resting on the butt of a pistol that was holstered on his hip, while the other stepped forward and raised a hand to indicate that the man should stop. The hooded figure complied and came to a halt, his gloved hands held loosely at his sides.

"Come on now, you don't think you're going to come in like that do you?" The front guard said, friendly and commanding at the same time. "You'll have to drop the hood and remove the glasses before I can let you in."

The black clad figure simply inclined his head to the right and stared at the guard until he spoke again. "If you don't want to, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Make me." The man spoke, his voice was quiet but commanding; a much higher level of command then the guard had had in his.

"A troublemaker eh?" the guard said and stepped forward again, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "Let's go shall we?" he smiled politely and moved to push the man backwards. Before he knew it, however, his vision was blurred and he felt like he had been thrown into a blender.

The guard was thrown sideways with enough force that he spun uncontrollably before smashing into the glass wall, bursting straight through it, and crashing into the floor where he slid to a stop, unconscious. In an instant, the second guard drew his weapon and levelled it on the man's head; except the man was no longer stood where he had been, he was within touching distance.

With a small smile on his lips, the man placed a hand on the guard's chest and with a small shove; he too was sent flying back with immense force. The guard smashed through the second set of glass doors, and skimmed across the floor before slamming into one of the tellers' desks. The black clad figure then walked calmly into the room as the occupants all cowered to the ground. He looked around as a grin slid onto his face again before raising his arms.

"Leave the room now please, I wouldn't want to harm any innocent civilians." His voice once again emanating with command.

Immediately all the people in the main area rushed towards the door, keeping as wide a berth from the figure as they could, and rushed out onto the street. The tellers and employees, who were behind the main desk, all rushed to the back of the room and exited through doors leading further into the building. As they did, one of them pressed a button on the wall and red lights started to flash throughout the room.

The black clad figure stood still and watched with interest as tiles slid out of view from the roof and machine guns dropped out, swivelling around to point at him. Four of these weapons dropped out, surrounding the figure completely before an automated voice came up on hidden speakers.

"Criminals, you have broken the law and will now be detained until the proper authorities come and collect you. Drop your weapons and lie face down on the floor with your hands on the backs of your heads. The floors have pressure pads so we will know if you have complied. You have five seconds." A click sounded, indicating the speakers had switched off, and five seconds passed without a sound.

Immediately on the five second mark, the four weapons open fired and sprayed the figure with rounds. The high calibre rounds slammed into his body, but the figure didn't move an inch. However, the guns didn't stop as the continued firing under a command which apparently was never coming. The figure shrugged to himself and with a blur of his arm, the four machine guns blew up in a ball of flame, bits of metal dropping to the floor in the process.

As the figure started to step forward, four small spikes rose out from the corners of the tile he was stood on. With a spark of electricity, the floor tile became electrified and an insane voltage of electricity passed into the figures body; with no effect. He completely ignored the electric as he walked towards the tellers' desk, each tile lighting up with electricity as he stepped on it, until metal grating dropped down to block the area behind the tellers' desk. As well as that, red lasers passed across the grating in small squares, leaving no space to put a finger through.

A smile crept onto the man's lips as he placed his hands into the high-heat weaponry and ripped the metal grating to pieces. He then grabbed the devices that were emitting the lasers and pulled them free, allowing him access to behind the desk. The figure gingerly hopped up onto the desk and down to the other side, looking around before staring at the ground.

"Figures." He muttered to himself before raising his fist and slamming it into the ground.

Immediately a spider web of cracks ran away from his fist, creating a somewhat circle in the ground before the floor gave way under the attack and collapsed downwards, giving the man access to a lower floor. He jumped down immediately and came face to face with a massive vault door. Without so much as a light pause for thought, he dug his fingers into the metal and with sharp tug, pulled the door free of its holdings; giving him access to the vaults contents.

Pausing for the first time, he cocked his head to the side and seemed to be listening to something before he gazed up at the roof and stared intently in the direction of the front of the building.

"Interesting." He said before grabbing one of the money bags.

* * *

"Code Red! Code Red! Code Red!"

The control room was in chaos as red lights flashed and a siren blared in the background. As personnel rushed around, moving to pre-organised positions in reaction to the alert, one person in particular didn't seem rushed at all. He strolled through the doors to enter the room and glided through the rush until he was stood directly behind the man who had initiated the alert in the first place.

"Is it him?" he asked, leaning over to look at the data on the computer screen.

"Unconfirmed Director, but I'm pretty sure. See here?" the technician said, pointing to a line of text on the screen. "Whoever it is hasn't used anything flashy, but the fact he can bounce bullets of his chest is a good indicator it's him."

The Director smiled and pulled back his cuff to check the time. "You've got two minutes, get the team loaded into the chopper and get them there before he leaves."

"Which team, Sir?"

"Both, and send the leads to me, I need to talk to them before they leave."

"Yes sir"

The Director then moved away from the computer screens and headed out of a second exit along the wall. As the door closed behind him, a brown haired woman that didn't even reach his shoulder stepped to his step and followed him down the corridor.

"Sir, I mobilized the teams as soon as the alarm went off; we're ready to go when you command."

"Good, where's Matt?" The Director asked, just as a man with white hair and glasses stepped up to his other side. "Good. Right, we haven't had a hit in a couple of months but this guy is on a whole other level. As in, he's nothing like the others; he's a special case."

"Sir?" Matt questioned.

"I won't go into details now, but be careful with him. If possible bring him in without a fight; as unlikely as that will be. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." Matt replied before exiting through a door on his left.

"So keep Leon under control?" Joanne asked with a smile.

"If you can." The Director replied before Joanne exited through her own doo and left him on his own. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile phone and quickly typed in a number. The phone rang a couple of times before the person on the other end finally picked up. "We've found him."

"Really?" The voice said slowly.

"We're pretty sure."

"Do not fail me."

"Certainly not, my Lord." The Director replied before hanging up and slipping the phone back into his pocket with a grin.

As soon as the alarm had been activated within the Metropolis Central Bank, the police force had been mobilized. Thanks to that automated response, the police were on scene before the perpetrator had left the building. The Sergeant in charge organised the officers so that they completely surrounded the entrance to the bank, while leaving enough room for the criminal to actually leave the building. As he was setting up, a plain black car pulled up to the cordon and a tall man with glasses stepped out.

Completely ignoring the protests of the nearest officer to him, the man strode across to the Sergeant and flipped a wallet open to reveal an I.D. card. "I would appreciate it if you would call of your officer, Sergeant." The man said in a drawling, bored voice.

With narrowed eyes, the Sergeant waved away the officer and, after giving instructions to his second-in-command, turned his attention to the newcomer. "Let's see that ID again, sir." He said, taking the wallet and holding in his hand to get a clear look at the identification. It showed a picture which matched the owner, and indicated that he belong to a government lab called S.T.A.R.T. "I've never heard of this S.T.A.R.T. lab." He questioned, looking up at the suited individual.

"Most probably not, the important thing is that my clearance is above yours." The man said, taking his wallet back and slipping it into his pocket. "Now, I would ask you to clear your men out of here, but leave your vehicles as they are."

"What are you talking about? We're not going anywhere."

"Trust me Sergeant, you are. If you are not gone within the next ten minutes, I assure you a higher authority then I will be on scene and your life could become quite complicated." The man spoke with such authority that the Sergeant nearly obeyed, but his experience and solid personality stopped him just in time.

"I don't think so, we're staying right here so that these guys don't get away." He said, crossing his arms. "And don't think some strong-arm from the government is going to sway my decision."

"Sergeant, take a look at my ID again; ideally looking in the bottom left corner." The man said while handing his wallet across again.

The Sergeant flipped it open and scanned it again, focusing on the bottom left corner of the card. What he saw there made him fold the ID up and hand it back to the man with a nod, before turning on his heel and striding across to his second-in-command. Before he started issuing instructions though, he turned back to the man with narrowed eyes. "I won't be clearing the area completely. I'll create a cordon on a wider radius, we'll be out of your hair but should you need us, give me a call." He didn't wait for a reply as he issued his instructions.

The tall man wearing glasses looked up to the sky just as two personnel carrying helicopters swung into view from above the building behind him. They settled into a steady hover as the side doors slid open and two ropes dropped from either side. As the man watched, shadowy figures leant out of the doors and clipped themselves onto the ropes before jumping out and sliding down on some kind of vertical zip line device. As soon as their boots touched the ground, they unclipped and walked casually over to the man. Finally, one more person from each helicopter clipped on a fast-roped the ground.

"Matt, Joanne…" the figure said as the pair walked up to him. "…he's all yours, just be careful."

As he finished speaking, the black-clad figure stepped out of the front doors of the bank building; a full money sack slung over his shoulder. He slowly stepped down the steps and into the area the police had left for such purposes.

The newly arrived group dodged between the cars and stepped into the cleared area as well, creating a loose semi-circle around the black clad figure. Matt and Joanne stepped into the front and stood directly in front of the individual with caution.

"Hi, I'm Matt and we are the Risers; care to join us."

His only reply was a grin sliding onto the black-clad figures face.


	3. Four Weeks Earlier

**- 1 -**

**- Four Weeks Earlier… -**

Calvin Kelham was sprawled on his dying sofa. He was wearing a plain blue shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, plain blue jeans and grey trainers. His brown hair was spread messily across his head and reached down towards his bright green eyes. He sighed heavily and turned his head to look at the clock he kept on small table near the sofa. The red numbers indicated that it was early afternoon, causing Cal to sigh again as he pulled himself off the sofa and headed towards the phone on the wall.

As he reached out to pick up the receiver, the low-toned buzz of the phone indicated someone was trying to call him. Without hesitating he picked the phone up and moved the receiver to his ear, while at the same time leaning against the wall.

"Hello?" he muttered, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

"You know, I'll always be waiting for someone else to answer this phone." The female said on the other end of the line, her tone of disapproval clear. "At least I'd know you'd moved out of that, or perhaps acquired yourself a girlfriend."

"Oh dear sister, you do pry into business that has nothing to do with you don't you?" Cal said calmly, gazing at the nails on his free hand. "On a daily basis too, don't you have a job to get to?"

"Don't _you _have a job to get too? Oh wait, that's right, you don't. You just rely on your pocket money that the parents insist on giving you."

"I think with 100 grand a month, I don't need to find myself a job. Oh, and I have a girlfriend by the way."

"Pah! I think I'd know if you were dating someone, Calvin."

"Why, you spying on me?"

"I'm looking after your welfare, yes."

"You _are _spying on me!?" he burst out in an uncontrollable fit of laughter and it was nearly a full minute before he had composed himself. "Oh dear, you are a delightful individual Sophie. Goodbye." He laughed wildly again before putting the phone down and hanging up on his sister.

He continued chuckling to himself as he walked forward, but stopped when he noticed one of his kitchen knives lying across the floor. He frowned and bent down to scoop it up; in doing so, the edge of the blade ran across the pad of his finger and a thin line of blood pooled out, turning into a drop that splatted on the floor. Cal grabbed the knife with his other hand and stuck his bleeding finger into his mouth, sucking at the wound with annoyance on his face.

"That's why I hate these ruddy chef knives; too bloody sharp!" he muttered to himself as he slid the knife into the block that held the rest of the set. "Mother F…" he stopped himself from swearing and started shaking his finger in front of him. "Right then…" a musical jingle rang out from his pocket, and using his non-bloodied hand, he pulled out his mobile phone.

Sliding his finger across the screen 'picked up' the phone and he placed it to his ear as he pushed his way out of his door, leading into a stairway. "I'm coming, damn near sliced my finger off on one of your knives." He said, a hint of laughter on his lips.

"Well, when you learn to cook properly, you won't be slicing your finger off at every moment!" the voice replied on the other end, her voice clear with laughter. "But still, I'm only on break for another hour and I'm sure as hell not going to be late waiting for you."

"Fair snuff, I'll be there in about 10 minutes, don't go running off now." He said before slipping the phone back into his pocket and butting his way through the door and onto the street below.

Being as it was early afternoon, the streets were reasonably busy; pedestrians crowding the pavement and cars driving along the road. He skipped down the steps from his building and strode across the pavement, his size making people stop to let him pass, before coming to a stop next to a shining black motorcycle. Without a moment of hesitation, he swung his leg over the bike and sat down to balance it. Cal reached forward an picked the helmet off the fuel tank, slipping it over his head and clicking the faceplate down before starting the engine on the superbike.

He took off and accelerated hard, catching the light as it changed to red at the end of his street. He paid no heed to speed limits and weaved his way through the traffic, stopping only at red lights and places that forced him to stop. At one point he caught sight of a police car parked at the side and slammed the brakes on to bring himself down to the speed limit. He achieved that just as he passed the car, but saw it was empty anyway and accelerated away, dodging around the cars in front of him.

The longer he drove, the busier it got and eventually, even he was brought to a crawl. So using the nimbleness of a motorcycle, he forced his way to the side of the road and slipped the bike into a spot between two cars parked at the side. Cal kicked out the stand and swung himself off the bike, putting the helmet back on the fuel tank. Unlike the nimbleness of his bike, Cal used his bulk to push his way onto the pavement and moved along until he could get into the entrance to a cafe.

His above average height made him nearly a head taller than everyone else, so it was easier to watch and keep an eye out. However, he was surprised when someone slammed into his back and covered his eyes with their hands. "Didn't kill yourself this time then?" the female voice asked, suppressing a giggle.

"What a nice start to a conversation." He replied, prising the hands free and turned to face the beauty that was Louise Lee. "Striking as always, Louise, and no, I didn't kill myself." He smiled in reply to Louise's question.

Louise smiled in return and placed a hand on his chest. "But seriously, try not to kill yourself anytime you decide to go anywhere." Louise stood at an average height; a height made to look tiny in comparison with Cal's own freakish height, and had long blonde hair that she tied into a tight ponytail that ran down her back. She was wearing a skirt/suit combo over a white shirt with the collar spread open. The heels on her feet did little to raise her height, and her blue eyes shone in the light.

"Anyway, what's happening in the world of news?" Cal asked, referring to Louise's job with one of the city newspapers.

"Crap, absolute crap. There is nothing, _nothing, _properly newsworthy happening in this place; it's ridiculous." She replied, crossing her arms. "You would think that a city that rivals Metropolis would have something going on! But no, nothing is happening."

"So let me translate what that means." Cal said with a sly smile. "What you're saying is that there is no news worthy of _your_ attention happening anywhere in the city. Correct?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, I'm glad we are on the same page here. I mean, there are plenty of normal news stories happening; 'Man dies mysteriously', 'Kidnapped Child returned without harm', 'Miracle Doctors save the lives of thousands' etc., etc." She ranted, her gaze causing anyone in her way to move out of it. "But in reality, all the newspapers in the city are reporting on these. I need something new, something so out of this world and unique that it will blow the minds of our readers."

"The world's a boring place, Louise, and your already budding journalistic career isn't going to go anywhere if you aren't writing articles." He smiled, and nudged Louise in the direction of a convenience store. "Now, I'm getting hungry so let's get something to eat."

"Fine, but you're paying." She said before diverting into the store.

It was a fairly big store, considering its location in the city, but it was also rather empty considering the time of day it was. In fact, the only other person in the store was a white haired man staring at the frozen peas section. Cal immediately weaved his way down the small aisles until he was at the very far end of the store, where the sandwiches and related products were located.

As he perused the flavours, Louise walked up behind him and looked at the selection in disgust. "You actually force yourself to eat this stuff." She said with a raised eyebrow and an impressive frown. "With the money you have, you could do much better."

"Well, maybe I like this stuff." Cal replied while keeping his eyes on the food in front of him. "I take it you won't be picking anything then?" he asked as he reached forward and grabbed his sandwich of choice.

"Not from a place like this." Louise said, frowning again.

"Fine by me." Cal said before moving across the wall to pick something else to go with the sandwich in his hand.

As Cal picked out everything he wanted, the bell on the door rang again and a man dressed in baggy jeans and a puffy coat walked in the door. He was wearing a cap pulled low down on his head, and was glancing around with slit-like eyes; his right hand was swinging free by his side, but his left hand was stuffed into his jacket pocket, which bulged suspiciously.

"You don't think…" Louise started before the man pulled out a revolver from his pocket and fired a shot into the ceiling.

"Get on the ground, now!" he shouted in Cal and Louise's direction, before brandishing the gun in their direction. Immediately Cal grabbed Louise's arm and dragged her to a crouching position, making sure she was hidden from view by the aisle. The man then turned to the white-haired customer and repeated the order, brandishing the weapon outlandishly. The white-haired man didn't argue and immediately dropped to the ground.

"You, put the money in the bag!" the man had turned to the cashier and had thrown a backpack onto the side. "Now!" the cashier didn't argue, being as a revolver was pushed into his face, and opened the till to stuff the bag with money.

"Cal!" Louise hissed, digging an elbow into Cal's side. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Making sure, you don't do something stupid!" Cal said, keeping his eyes locked on the thief. "You'd just end up getting yourself hurt, or worse."

"Then you can do it!" Louise said, earning a look from Cal. "Don't look at me like that! You're 6 ft. 6 and built to match, he'd go down like a sack of potatoes!"

"Maybe so, but he's got a pistol."

"It's good to know you're so brave." Louise said before crossing her arms. "I'm at least going to call the cops." And before Cal could stop her, she had whipped out her phone and dialled.

"Shit." Cal said, turning back to the thief; who had disappeared. "What the…?"

"I wouldn't do that little missy." A voice said, and Cal whirled round to see the thief gripping Louise's arm tightly.

"Louise!" he called and reared to his feet, towering over the other man. However, he wasn't afraid as he raised his pistol and levelled it at Cal's chest.

"Uh, uh, uh, wouldn't want a dead body on our hands now, right?" he said with a sinister laugh, ignoring the struggling Louise was putting up. "Stop it, bitch!" he said before raising the pistol with a clear intent to hit Louise with it.

Cal lunged forward, but was too slow as the thief rounded the pistol on him and pulled the trigger. The sound of the bullet going off exploded in Cal's ears and he dived to the side at the last second. However, a stinging in his left arm told him he had been too slow and he clamped his right hand over it, feeling the warmness of his blood pooling between his fingers.

"Cal!" he heard Louise call and looked up to see the thief aiming the pistol at his head. He gritted his teeth, using all his willpower to keep his eyes open, as two more shots rang through the air. They were just as loud as before, but Cal heard something different with these ones, a crisper sound then the revolver. He watched as the Thief's face contorted into a pained look and two red patches appeared on the white t-shirt he wore.

Cal whirled around and saw the white-haired man kneeling up and holding a sleek pistol, police issue. There was a thump and Cal turned to see the Thief lying on the ground, and Louise moving towards him.

"Cal! Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling down and grabbing his injured arm to take a look.

"I'm fine, I think it only grazed me." He said, moving his right hand away from the wound, feeling the blood on his fingers.

"Then you're a very lucky man." The white-haired man said and walked up to him, offering his hand. "You reacted pretty quick for someone of your size, it was quite impressive."

Cal took his hand and pulled himself to his feet, glancing at the wound on his arm. The bullet had literally skimmed his arm and cut a length of about 3 inches along, but it wasn't very deep at all. He grimaced and flexed the fingers on his left hand, nodding when they moved without any pain. "Quick enough that I probably don't need to go to the hospital."

"Indeed. Special Detective Harry Jacobs by the way." The white-haired man replied, pulling out a police badge and flicking it in their direction. "You understand you'll have to hang around for a bit?"

"Yeah, she's been in enough of these situations for me to grasp the process." He said with a chuckle, jerking his head in Louise's direction. She raised an eyebrow and punched him in the ribs, earning a grunt from Cal. "Hey, I'm injured here." He protested.

"Don't be such a wimp." Was all Louise said as Harry dialled a number on his cell and called in support.


	4. Meet the Parents

**- 2 -**

**- Meet the Parents -**

"S.T.A.R.T Labs, using the future to save the lives of millions…" Cal reached forward and stabbed at the pause button on his DVD player, bringing the video to a sudden stop. He sighed and leant back again, bringing the phone back to his ear.

It had been just under a week since the incident at the convenience store and Cal was back to his normal routine. In fact, he hadn't really been fazed by the whole thing in the first place, except for the part when Louise was threatened. She had teased him to no end during the week about his worried shout when she had been attacked, but he had returned it in full for her shout when he had been shot at. The most annoying thing about the whole ordeal for him was his sister's stream of phone calls when she had found out about it. In fact, she was even on her way down to see him at this very moment.

Surprisingly, he had also received a call from his father, although it had nothing to do with what had happened, which was why he was now watching a video about the future of medicinal technology under development by S.T.A.R.T Labs. S.T.A.R.T Labs was the business his parents had set up a number of years ago that was now receiving funding from the government due to the number of cures and technological advancements it was managing to send out. The Government contracts were one of the reasons they were so rich, as well as Cal himself. The other reason for them being so rich was something that not even Cal knew about.

"So what did you think?" Richard Kelham said to his son, having heard him end the video.

"What a bunch of crap." Cal instantly answered, before laughing hysterically. "Who the hell came up with this video?"

"Our PR department…" Richard replied, his voice sounding crestfallen.

"I didn't know you had a PR department."

"That's because we didn't, not until about 2 weeks ago."

"I see, hence the complete balls up of this video. Why do you even need one of these, I understood that you were meant to be a partially secret Government Lab working on cures for all the diseases of the world and stuff." Cal sniffed loudly and wiped away a globule of snot with the back of his hand, before shaking his hand to send it flying to the floor. "Seriously, why the change of…of status?" the last word he said unsurely, as he tried to pick the right word to describe it.

"Cal, you know I can't discuss business details with you. Well, at least not most of them anyway. I hear your sister is going down to visit you?"

Cal paused momentarily but continued with narrowed eyes. "Yes she is, where did you hear that? Wait, I bet it was from her."

"You are correct; she gave me a call and informed me of your situation and what happened at the store the other week. You ok?"

"Wasn't anything too exciting, although she wouldn't let you believe that if you talked to her. Hell, she could probably convince me it was a near-death experience if I gave her enough time."

"Perfect."

"Perfect?" Cal questioned, raising an eyebrow at the word.

"I'll send a helicopter down to pick the both of you up; it'll take you to the Airport where a private jet will be waiting to jet you over here."

"Wait a second; you want me and sis to come to England? To S.T.A.R.T Labs? As in, the place you work?" Cal's voice was clearly surprised.

"Yes. I know it's never happened before, but I think it's about time you came to see the place we work. Also, we haven't seen each other for so long and we could have a nice chat while you're here. Can you tell Sophie?"

"Yeah I'll tell her. Oh, if you are going to all the trouble to get me and Sophie across to see you, are you ok if I bring my Girlfriend? This'll probably be the only time she'll get a chance to meet you."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone but Richard eventually answered. "Ok, I can sort that out. However, she'll have to go through some security screening before she can enter, make sure she has no devices on her that can record anything inside. Oh, and before you act confused, I'm aware Miss Lee works for the papers. Also, you and Sophie will have to go through the security as well, so Miss Lee won't be lonely."

"Oh Dad, you're as bad as my damn sister. Oh well, I'll tell her to leave everything at home and I'll be sure to leave anything at home." As Cal was about to say something else, there was a knock on the door. "Anyway, got to go Dad, Sophie has arrived and I'm sure to be trapped in a never ending loop of questions. See you later then." He hung the phone up and strode across the apartment to the door swinging it open without looking who it was and finding both his sister and his girlfriend stood on his doorstep.

"Who the hell is she?" they both said in unison, which made Cal smile and raise an eyebrow.

"Well, isn't this a situation from some kind of shitty sitcom. Sophie, meet Louise Lee, my girlfriend. Louise, meet Sophie, my ever annoying sister."

Louise glanced at Sophie once before entering the apartment and heading for the sofa but Sophie didn't move a step, her eyes locked on Louise. "I don't believe it, you actually have a girlfriend, you weren't making it up."

"An as intelligent comment as one could make in this situation, sister. Now do you want to come in so I can shut the door?"

Sophie Kelham was shorter than her younger brother by a considerable amount, just under a foot in fact, but she was much more beautiful as he was handsome. Where he had a gruff appearance, like that of a farmer, Sophie was a natural beauty. She had long, shiny black hair that she let fall down her back, and brilliant blue eyes that shone in the dingy room. She was wearing a short sleeved shirt, cut tight to her body, and tight fitting jeans above brown high heeled ankle boots.

She swished her way past Cal and moved into the room, deliberately ignoring the sofa and instead moving across to the breakfast bar on the opposite side of the room, leaning against it and crossing her arms in front of her chest. She narrowed her eyes and glanced around the room, wrinkling her nose.

"You really need to invest in a better place, Cal. This place is ridiculously outdated and rotten." She said, glancing once more around the room before settling her gaze on Cal. "But I'm not planning on staying long, you need…" she stopped as Cal raised a finger in front of him.

"Now, before you manage to get into some kind of crazy tirade about whatever, I'm going to say now that we're going to be going to England tonight." He said, lowering his finger and slipping his hands into his pockets. "It's crazy, I know, but Dad pretty much insisted; in fact, there's a helicopter on its way now."

"Crazy!?" Sophie said, keeping control of her temper. "That man is infuriatingly crazy; does he think I have time to go gallivanting around the planet at his whim?"

"Mm, well, yes, anyway. Louise, you'll also be coming."

"Say what?" Was her reply, as she brought herself back into the room. "Did you just say that I'd be going to England tonight?" She sounded close to incredulity but, like Sophie, she managed to control herself. "I can't just run off in the middle of the night to England, I've got work tomorrow."

"No panic, Dad will make a call and things will be fine. Anyway, you'll want to go as soon as I tell you where it is, specifically. In fact, Sophie, you'll be intrigued as well." He said, glancing up at his sister who had a look of intrigue on her face. "Dad has decided he wants to show us the interior of S.T.A.R.T Labs."

"As in _the _S.T.A.R.T Labs?" Louise said, nearly shaking with excitement. "As in, the government facility working on all kinds of juicy things?"

"That's the one."

"Wait, why does Dad want to show us it now?" Sophie interrupted, although it was clear she was eager to go as well.

"No idea, but…" he was interrupted at a ringing from his pocket and he fished out his mobile phone before answering it. "...Hello?"

"Mr Kelham? My name is Karl Snyder, I'm your father's helicopter pilot; I'm about 100 ft out."

"100 ft from where?" Cal asked before a thump from above him answered his question. "Karl, did you just land on the roof?"

"Yes sir, orders from Mr Kelham…your father."

"Ok, be up in a second." He hung the phone up and sighed. "Right then, are we ready to go?" he said, earning him matching looks from Sophie and Louise.

A number of hours later, including a bunch of extra ones earned by jumping across the time zones, the private jet escorting Cal, Louise and Sophie began its descent for landing. Cal was just flicking his seat back into its upright position and stretching off his cramped muscles, his hands brushing the roof in the confined space of the small plane. Sophie was sat on a chair on the opposite side of the cabin, perfectly poised with one leg crossed atop the other. Louise, on the other hand, was curled into a ball and still fast asleep in her chair; opposite Cal's own. As he reached over to wake her, he saw Sophie get up and make her way to the cockpit.

"Pilot…" she said, opening the thin door between cockpit and cabin. "…which airport are we landing at? And how long will it take to get to S.T.A.R.T. labs after we land?" her voice was crisp but polite, but Cal could tell she was still seething at their father for whisking her to England on such short notice.

"Ma'am, we'll be landing at S.T.A.R.T.'s own landing strip and from there you'll be escorted via SUV to meet with Mr Kelham at the entrance." He replied, glancing over his shoulder to look at her.

"When the hell did the labs get its own landing strip?" Cal called from his seat, watching Louise stretch herself off. The look he got from Sophie told him to shut up, but at least the lack of a retort meant she didn't know either.

"About 5 years ago I think." He replied before a buzzing came from his ear and he began talking to what was clearly Air Traffic Control.

Cal shrugged and looked out the window, catching sight of S.T.A.R.T. labs for the first time in his life; and he was impressed. It was clearly a massive building, hundreds of feet long and hundreds of feet tall. However, it was also very strangely shaped, taking on the look of a wedge of circular cheese which had sunken into the ground, so that the roof touched the floor and sloped up to the pointed front. In the morning light, the reflecting sun told Cal that the whole building seemed to be made out of glass.

Sophie took her seat with a huff and applied her seatbelt, with Cal and Louise following suite. The cabin remained in silence as the plane made its final dip to touch down onto the runway, a heavy bump indicating the wheels had reached the ground. There was the whine of engines and mechanics as the pilot braked hard and lowered the throttle to engage the reverse thrust.

The plan almost came to a complete stop, until the engine sound changed and the pilot began to taxi the plan off the runway and towards a small concrete building resting in the shadow of the main glass one. With the slight screech of unoiled parts the plane came to a complete stop and the engines stopped their whine and began to power down. There was the cackle of static before the pilots voice came over the intercom and into the cabin.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to S.T.A.R.T. international. Please watch your step while exiting the cabin and your cars are waiting." He said before the sound cut off.

"Well then, let's go and meet the parents." Cal said, pulling himself to his feet and offering Louise his hand, which she took and pulled herself to her feet.

"I'm getting excited now, S.T.A.R.T. labs is just there, meters away from where I'm stood." Louise said as she led the way to the door, which had been opened remotely and had settled on the tarmac of the ground. She practically skipped down the stairs, Cal was slightly more cautious as he stepped down, and looked up at the massive building in front her. "Wow, this place is gigantic!" she exclaimed with a smile on her face, clearly greatly excited to be where she was.

"Right you are, Ms Lee, this place _is _gigantic; and this is only the tip of the iceberg." A voice said as the door of one of the waiting cars opened and a figure stepped out. "I'm glad you're impressed. Oh, I'm Richard Kelham by the way." He said, flashing a grin of his own.

Richard Kelham was a tall man, a couple of inches below that of Cal, and sported a skinny body. His hair was just as long as his sons but was bright blonde, although speckled with grey and swept back over his head, and his eyes were a dull brown. He was currently wearing a red checker shirt tucked into a pair of blue jeans, and heavy brown work boots. A pair of glasses with black framed perched on the top of his head.

"Dad." Cal said and extended his hand, which Richard shook without hesitation but also slapped Cal on the back as well.

"Well, wasn't that distant. I know we haven't seen each other for quite some time but I think you could spare a hug or your old man!" he exclaimed but laughed and turned to Sophie, who had just walked up. "My little Sophie, how are you?" he move forward with his arms wide for a hug but Sophie placed a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Normally, I would give you a hug, but you don't get on this time because you dragged me half way across the world without any warning. Although it is nice to see you." She smiled politely and Richard lowered his arms.

"Well now, just don't worry about work or anything. I made sure to make the necessary calls and I'm sure it can run smoothly without you for a couple of days." He turned back to Cal and Louise and smiled. "Now, aren't you going to introduce me to your lovely girlfriend Cal."

"Do I need to, I presume you know everything about her by now." He said, a slight hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Well, let's just do it for formalities sake then."

"If you want. Louise, this is my dad, Richard. Dad, this is Louise Lee." He said, crossing his arms as Richard extended his hand to Louise.

"It's fantastic to finally meet you. Now, let's get onto the bit you've been waiting for shall we. S.T.A.R.T. labs awaits." He grinned and ushered the three into the car before jumping in himself.


	5. Origins

**- 3 -**

**- Origins -**

As the group entered through the set of double doors that served as the buildings entrance, the sheer size of the structure was made apparent. The building seemed to be one massive hall, filled with all kinds of different machines, displays and other such things. From what Cal could see, security in the building was extremely lacking and he was starting to wander what they really did here. Just as he was thinking this, Louise just came out and asked.

"Ok then Mr Halterman; you're going to have to explain something to me." Louise said, glancing around the massive hall to take everything in.

"Go on Ms Lee." Richard said with a small smile on his lips.

"As far as I understood, this was supposed to be some sort of secret government lab or something. If that was the case, why is everything on display and why isn't there anymore security around here?"

Richard smiled but supressed laughing out loud. "Two things before I answer Ms Lee…" he said, holding up two fingers. "One, what makes you think this is _everything _we are working on? Two, there is a lot more security then you seem to give credit for. Just because you cannot see it, does not mean that it is not there." He smiled, earning a frown from Louise in return.

"Allow me to explain. It is no secret that S.T.A.R.T. labs are an innovator in medical, military and civilian technological advancements. We have built weapons of mass destruction as well as the means to fix that which has been destroyed. Along with that we also improve the daily life of people all around the world, first and third world alike…"

"Enough with the sales pitch…" Cal said, shaking his head.

Richard's smiled deepened slightly before he continued. "S.T.A.R.T labs try not to be the top secret government lab everybody seems to expect from it. As such, everything in this hall is free to the public for viewing, any time of the year, any time of the week."

Louise raised an eyebrow and turned her head to face Richard. "Seriously? They can just walk on in and have a look at whatever they want?" the tone of voice made it clear she found this ridiculous.

"Not quite. An appointment has to be made at least a week in advance and then each individual visiting has to undergo the security screening you yourselves just went through before entering the building." He gestured to his right in an action for the three of them to follow him. "But once they've done that, they are free to roam this hall and inspect anything in here to their hearts content."

"Ok then Dad, I can accept that." Sophie put in, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "But I'd be an idiot not to point out the obvious."

"Which is…?" Richard prompted, his smile turning from glee to mischievous in a second.

"If all this stuff is free for public viewing, what the hell are you working on in the back?"

"…and that, dear Sophie, is the million dollar question. Wait here a second."

The group had reached the end of the hall and had come to a set of double doors. At first sight they seemed to be made of simple wood, but the three of them could guess otherwise; even more so when Richard moved to the side of the door and activated a small panel of numbers. However, Richard ignored the numbers however and placed his finger against the small glass panel above the numbers.

The panel lit up with a blue glow and passed over Richard's index finger, taking the print as he pulled his finger off. The print stayed for a second before fading away and being replaced with Richard's name followed by a sequence of 8 numbers. Richard glanced at the numbers once and input them into the number panel, causing his name and the sequence to be replaced with the digits as he entered them.

Once he finished entering the numbers he punched enter and there was a whirring sound from behind the door before they jerked out an inch and then slid silently to the sides, revealing a short but wide entranceway behind it.

"Ok now, everyone in now." Richard said, ushering his guests into the area and following them in himself. As he passed the threshold the door slid shut again and dropped inwards an inch before the whirring sounded again and the group could see a complicated lock system slipping into place on the backside of the door.

"That's pretty secure." Cal commented.

"That's the whole idea one would suppose." Richard said, his face back to a sly smile.

Once the whirring sound stopped, a beeping sound echoed around and small lights came on at regular intervals along both walls. They lit up like projectors and the group was covered from head to toe in bright white light. The light pulsated a couple of times before they died completely and the group was plunged into darkness. This lasted a couple of seconds before a blue light flickered on them from above, bathing them a blue hue, and another whirring sound filled the room.

A door then opened on the far side of the hall and Richard ushered them through and into a four-way corridor that led to 3 different doors along with the one they had just left. "Ok then, if you could just step over to the centre of the corridors, I'll explain some more about what you are doing here."

As the group made their way to the centre of the crossroads, the door slid shut behind them and whirred as its locking mechanism clicked into place. Just as Richard instructed, Cal, Louise, and Sophie stopped in the centre of the crossroads, and glanced around at the three entrances. From what they could see, it gave nothing away as to what went where, except for a series of strange symbols in a sequence above the door.

"Right then…" Richard said, clapping his hands as he approached. "Now we have passed the initial checkpoint, security is a little bit less extreme further in. However, I will insist that you do not stray particularly far from myself or you might get trapped somewhere unpleasant."

"Wait a minute; before we begin I have a question." Sophie said "Why are you showing us this? The answer you gave Cal was not exactly an answer, was it?"

Richard paused and looked at Sophie carefully. "The answer I gave Cal is the answer I'll give now; you've never seen mine, or your mother's, place of work so I thought I'd give you a chance to see it. I mean, how many kids can't tell someone where their parents work?"

"A fair few I'd suggest." Sophie retorted, not looking particularly impressed. "We wouldn't be unique in the fact if you just stayed quiet about everything."

"A fair enough comment but…" Richard began but was interrupted as the lights suddenly blanked out and a siren blared out at a ridiculously loud level. Richard's eyes widened in surprise and he reached into his pocket to pull out some kind of touchscreen device. It lit up with what seemed to be random lines of text, and his eyes widened even further. "Follow me, now!" he shouted over the alarm and strode quickly over to the door on their right. "Quickly!"

Cal, Louise and Sophie didn't stop to ask questions, instead quickly following after Richard, stopping behind him as he flashed his device in front of the door. There was a light and a beep and the door slid open to reveal some kind of laboratory.

"Dad, what the hell's going on?" Cal shouted, following his father into the room, pulling Louise along with him by the hand. "What is that alarm?"

Richard ignored his son's question and instead traversed quickly through the tables, which were stacked with all sorts or liquids and vials, and rushed to another door, once again waving his device in front of the door. The light and the beep sounded again and the door slid open to reveal a large square room bathed in a dark red light. Richard swept in but suddenly jerked to a halt, making Cal nearly topple over him.

"Dad, what's wrong?" he asked, looking around the empty room in bewilderment.

"Dad!" Sophie said, slipping into the room and grabbing Richard by the arm.

"Get out, now!" he said just as the door slid shut behind them. Richard spun around and pushed past Cal to get to the door, swiping his device. Except this time, nothing happened. He tried again, but still there was no response.

"It's not going to work, Mr Halterman." A voice said from the darkness.

The four of them turned around just as a figure became visible in the darkness of the far corner. It was wearing some kind of heavy black cloak, helping it to hide in the dark, which covered its entire body with the exception of its face. As the figure turned to face the group, it was revealed to have a white mask on, plain except for holes for the eyes from which a red light seemed to glow.

"And I'm sure you wife would not appreciate you leaving so soon." The figure sneered. He turned his body and a woman tumbled out from behind him a fell to the floor.

"Susan!" Richard shouted and started forward, only to be stopped in his tracks as the figure raised his hand.

"Move any more than that and I will kill her. You know I can without any trouble at all." The figure said, the smile on his lips clear despite the mask on his face.

"Who the hell are you?" Cal said, taking a step forward so he was level with his father. His face was one of clear fury and his hands were clenched by his sides.

Richard started and spun around to face his son, stepping to the side at the same time to stand in front of him. "Cal, don't even think about doing something stupid! You don't know who this man is!" he hissed.

"And you do?!" Cal retorted without hesitating, his uncharacteristic anger flowing freely. "Who the hell is this person, Dad, and what the hell does he want."

"His name is Luthor K…." Richard started but was interrupted as the cloaked figure took a menacing step forward and a literal growl escaped from his throat.

"That is not my name! Not anymore, not since I was your _subject_!" he hissed the final word and took a step forward. "If you ever try to refer to me as that name again, I'll do more than just kill your wife."

"That's it, get the hell away from my mother!" Cal said and pushed his father aside to stride forward towards the cloaked individual.

"Cal!" Richard shouted and moved to step forward, hesitating at a look from the cloaked man. At the same time Louise rushed forwards but Richard grabbed her and pulled her back. "Don't." was all he said as all eyes were on the angry Cal.

Cal approached the individual and it was only at this point that he realised that the person was actually taller than he was, which was a surprise, but he was physically bigger so he didn't hesitate as he reached forward to grab him.

"Impudent boy." The figure said as he aimed a backhand at Cal's stomach; like he was swatting a fly.

Cal wasn't expecting much of an impact but as soon as the back of the gloved hand touched his stomach, it felt like he had been hit by a car. His body was flung sideways and he crashed into the wall, crumbling some of the top layer and sending cracks running to the ceiling and floor. The cloaked figure stepped forward, his glowing red eyes boring into Cal, and formed his fingers into a flicking shape before placing it on Cal's chest. Then with just a simple flick of his fingers, the wall crumbled behind him and Cal was sent flying backwards, where he crashed into a table of beakers and glasses and it all smashed around him as he hit the floor.

"This is what happens, boy…" the figure said as he walked slowly into the room. "…when you listen to your emotions." He reached Cal, who was crouched on the floor, cradling his chest and breathing heavily. Then he reached down, grabbing Cal's arm, and lifted him clean off the floor, like he weighed nothing more than a plastic bag. "And this…" he squeezed Cal's arm and the loud snap of it breaking echoed around the room. "…is what happens when you try to fight someone stronger than you." He finished over Cal's scream.

Richard and Louise rushed into the room, Sophie having run to her mother, with a look of terror on their faces. "Enough, what the hell are you here for?! When you broke out you said you'd never be back."

The figure turned to face Richard before punching Cal in the gut, clearly cracking a number of ribs on both sides. He then did it again and again before Cal gave up struggling and hung limply from his broken arm which the figure still had hold of. Then, without any kind of effort, he flung Cal across the room where he smashed through a door and slammed into some kind of pillar, knocking an object off and onto the floor, where it started spraying out some kind of green gas.

Immediately a heavy duty metal door slammed into place as metal walls followed suit either side. Louise ran across the room, ignoring the man in the middle, and slammed her fists into the door. "Cal!? Cal, can you hear me!?" she yelled, pressing her ear to the door in an attempt to hear a reply.

Then a far door opened and a figure in black armour, carrying an assault rifle. "My Lord, we've secured the objects and are ready to leave as soon as you want." He saluting at the figure's nod and disappeared through the door again.

"Then there is only one more thing left to do." The figure said. "The boy is dead, the mother is dead; I might as well finish the set." He stepped slowly towards Richard as he stumbled backwards over some rubble from the wall.

"People will soon learn my name…" he said as his red eyes shone brighter "…People will soon learn that darkness will rule."


	6. Unexpected Consequences

**- 4 -**

**- Unexpected Consequences -**

Cal didn't know where he was. He had a pounding headache and it felt like a gang of people had beaten him with baseball bats for an hour. He tried to move his body, but it felt like it was made of lead, even his eyelids refused to yield to his commands. Giving up on moving his body, Cal instead tried to gauge his surroundings, using his other senses.

He couldn't hear much, mostly silence with the odd inclusion of what could have been voices; although they were muffled as if they were behind glass. His sense of smell seemed to be useless as well, wiggling his nose gave him the feeling something was stuffed up it. Taste wouldn't exactly help him out at this point, apart from the fact he felt like he had eaten recently, which was a surprise given as he couldn't remember the last time he had actually eaten. Eventually he gave up on trying to guess where he was and, since he didn't feel in immediate danger, he decided to drift back off into what he was sure was sleep; although it was plagued with nothingness.

What seemed like minutes later he woke up again, this time a little more aware of his surroundings. His eyelids had started to listen to him again and as he moved them open, millimetre by millimetre, he was greeted with blurry white. For a moment he thought it was simply his brain not reacting to what he was seeing, or getting used to the light, but the realised it was because the room he was in was all white. He moved his head slightly to the right, still stiff and still feeling as though he had been beaten all over, and saw a window with the blinds dropped.

As the minutes passed he could move more and more of his body; starting with his fingers and moving down until he could wiggle his toes. When he felt confident enough to do it, he slowly pulled himself up and into a sitting position, feeling his aching body as he moved, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He attempted to sniff but instead was met with resistance from whatever it was that was in his nose. So he reached up and tugged sharply, pulling a small tube system free from his nostrils. Just as he completed this action, groaning loudly as he did so, a door in the far corner swung open and Louise Lee stepped into the room.

"Cal!" she called out and rushed over to him, immediately throwing her arms around him in a huge hug. "You're awake!"

Cal grimaced but managed to keep silent as Louise squeezed all of his aching muscles at once. "Yeah, although I feel like someone run me over in a truck." Louise released her grip and Cal grimaced again as he muscles expanded.

"Sorry about that…" suddenly her demeanour had gotten very calm, and slightly morbid.

"What's up?" Cal asked as lightly as he could, slowly rotating his arm, which is when he suddenly realised his right forearm was in a cast. "What the…?" he said as he gazed at it and the across to Louise. "What happened to me? Where am I?"

"That answers the question I was about to ask." She said, crossing her arms while her voice took on a more sympathetic tone. "You don't remember what happened do you?" she didn't let Cal answer the question as she moved on without pausing. "That's what the Doctor's expected to be honest, being as you've been in a coma for the last week."

"What?!" Cal replied, his shocked expression telling the truth.

"Cal, don't you remember him? The man in the cloak?" she moved closer to him and placed her hands on his knees, staring him in the eyes. "Don't you remember what he did?"

As she spoke, Cal's mind flashed an image of a man stood in the shadows, his white mask and red eyes bright in the darkness. He clenched his eyes shut, raising his good hand to his head as he did so, to try and hold onto the image but it had gone as soon as it had arrived.

"Cal? Cal, you remembered?" he heard Louise's voice but kept his eyes closed as he searched for that image again. "The doctor's advised against forcing you to remember, but I can't agree with that, not after what he did to you. Think, Cal, you can't forget him!" her voice was more forceful but it worked.

Cal's mind was suddenly filled with the grating voice of the man in the cloak, his plain white mask surrounding his glowing red eyes. He remembered approaching the man, only to me thrown to the side as though he was nothing but a baby, and then he was thrown through the wall. The man had had unbelievable of strength, and Cal had no idea where it had come from. He felt his arm break all over again, only just hanging on a refraining from screaming again, and then falling into part-consciousness. He heard his father talking and then he was flying through the air again before slamming into something and falling completely under.

He didn't know what had been happening; Cal didn't know who the man was or why he was so strong. Cal didn't know, but his father did. He snapped his eyes opened and stared into the blue of Louise's.

"Louise, where is my family?" he asked quietly, intensely.

Louise hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering his question. "He killed them, Cal, he killed them all."

Cal felt nothing for a long time, and then he felt his sadness well only for it to be instantly quashed by his rising anger. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe in, controlling his emotions before he completely lost control.

"Cal?" Louise questioned quietly.

"I need to get out of here, now." He said, sliding off the bed and onto wobbly feet. Louise was instantly next to him, grabbing him by the elbow to support him.

"You can't go, you're still hurt."

"I don't feel any pain, nothing is wrong with me!" he said angrily, shuffling towards the door, practically dragging the much smaller Louise with him.

"Don't be an idiot Cal, that'll be the drugs taking the pain aw…ay." She then realised that the IV drip that fed into his arm was hanging down by the side of the bed, clearly having been free of his arm for a while; long enough for the drugs to have worn off.

"I'm not being an idiot, I don't feel any pain!" he shouted the last word and slammed his casted arm into the wall, shattering it into pieces and revealing a completely injury-free arm.

Louise had her hands covering her mouth but slowly moved them down to his arm to inspect them. "It's not broken anymore, but that's impossible." She was dumbfounded.

Cal was steadier on his feet now and he could feel strength seeping into him with every second. "It obviously wasn't as broken as you thought."

"I saw the x-ray Cal, it was snapped completely in two, and the doctors were worried it would never set back in its original position. This is bizarre."

"Whatever, I need to get the hell out of here." He snapped and pulled his arm away from her as he moved towards the door.

Cal reached out for the door handle but as he turned the knob to open it, the whole door jerked forward and he ended up with the door in his hands; having come off the wall completely. Cal looked confused for a second but shook his head and dropped the door, where it clattered to the floor, gaining the attention of a number of people but he ignored them all as he ploughed his way down the corridor.

"Cal! Cal, stop ignoring me! You can't leave, the doctors have to examine you and also…" Louise was shouting before Cal stopped dead in his tracks, causing her to slam into his back, nearly knocking her to the floor in the process. "Come on Cal, let's get back to your room." She said, rubbing her nose where it had collided with Cal's back.

"I don't think so, I'm allowed to check myself out now and get as far away from here as I can, and stop trying to stop me!" he started to move again before stopping at a giggling sound coming from Louise. "What the hell's so funny?" He asked, despite his wish to hurry out.

"Cal, I was also about to point out that you can't leave because you have no clothes on." Louise said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

Cal looked down at himself and realised that he was only wearing one of those hospital gowns, and nothing else. "So where the hell are my clothes?" he asked, ignoring Louise's look.

"Back in your room, if you hadn't been so keen to get the hell out of here, you would have probably seen them."

"Fine." He said and strode back the way he had come. He stepped over the broken door and ducked into his room. Just as Louise was about to follow suite, Cal stepped out again.

"What the…?" she said, staring at the now fully dressed Cal. "How the hell did you do that?"

"Do what? I've been able to dress myself for a long time now." Cal said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"But, you were only in there for about a second!" Louise exclaimed, her face a painting of confusion.

"Whatever." Cal replied and strode once more down the corridor, his face telling people to get out of his way.

He didn't exactly know where he was going, but by following the signs and a gut feeling he had, he eventually ended up in what was clearly the reception and waiting area. The waiting area was fairly full, but Cal had no eyes for that as he pushed his way through a set of swinging doors, leaving them attached to the wall this time, and made a beeline to the reception desk.

As he approached the desk, the woman behind it looked up and for a split second, she looked terrified, but smiled as he placed his hand on the top of the desk. "I'd like to check myself out please; my name is Calvin Kelham."

She looked momentarily surprised but her professionalism recovered as she clicked away at her computer. Eventually she stopped and frowned, glancing up at Cal as she did so. "This can't be right, it says here that you are a serious case patient. If that was correct, you certainly wouldn't be up and walking around. The Doctor must have made an administration error when entering your details onto the system." She reached into a draw and pulled out a sheet of paper, sliding it in front of Cal and handing him a pen. "Right, if you could print your name at the top and then sign at the bottom, you'll be free to go."

Cal didn't waste any time filling in the form, but the time he had taken with the receptionist had allowed Louise to catch up to him. "You're seriously checking yourself out, don't you _want _a Doctor to check you out? I mean, I would, if this was happening to me." She said, watching as he handed the signed form back and exchanged farewells with the receptionist before turning on his heel and heading for the automatic doors that led to the outside.

"Well, you're not me and I'm not you so none of that matters. I can't stay here anymore." Cal replied, sliding through the doors before they had fully opening but coming to a halt outside, the sun hidden from view by a slanted roof above him. "Where the hell is this?" he said, surveying the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Cal, we're still in London, England. You were injured too badly to be transferred very far, especially all the way to the states." Louise paused as she saw how confused and lost he really was, and her sympathy for him grew a little bit. "Come on, I'm booked into a hotel down the road, I couldn't be too far away from you." She stepped onto the pavement and gestured for Cal to follow.

Cal frowned and stepped out into the sun, intending to follow Louise, but instead froze on the spot. He suddenly felt like someone had fed him the world's supply of coffee, injected him with pure energy, forced him to drink every energy drink in America; all at the same time. He stumbled forward and tripped on the curb, sprawling into the road. Louise called out just as a car skidded to stop in front of him, the front bumper inches from his head.

Cal reached up and placed his hand on the bonnet of the car to pull himself up but instantly let go when he felt the metal cave under his grip. His hand was now imprinted into the car and the owner looked just as surprised as Cal felt. Cal jumped to his feet and took a step away from the car and into the path of an oncoming cyclist, who crashed into him. However, Cal didn't move an inch as the bicycle bent itself around him like he was a statue, while the rider was sent head over heels onto the pavement.

Eyes wide in surprise and horror, Cal took a step back and suddenly he was crashing into the building on the opposite side of the street; knocking the concrete to the floor as if it were made of cardboard. He spun away from the wall and took another step; this time disappearing completely.

"CAL!" Louise screamed and dashed across the road to the spot he had been stood moments before.

Hundreds of miles away from London, Cal splashed down into the ocean in a panicked frenzy and immediately started sinking. He managed to take a single breath before disappearing beneath the waves. He panicked and struggled but couldn't pull himself out of the current that was pulling him to the ocean floor. It was at this point that he realised he didn't have an urge to breath; he had no need for the air his brain was confusedly trying to force him towards.

So he let himself sink and eventually he touched down on the seabed. He instantly centred his balance and dug his feet into the ground to stop himself from moving any further. Cal looked around, ignoring the fact that he could look around without the sea stinging his eyes, and stared in wonder at his body.

_What the hell is happening!? _He thought desperately.


	7. With Great Power

**- 5 -**

**- With Great Power -**

"What the hell is happening to me…?"

Three days had passed since Cal's body had rebelled against him and somehow thrown him across the entire width of the country and then tried to drown him. Although, he had soon discovered that he couldn't drown even when he had tried to do it deliberately. The reason he knew this, was because for the last three days he had been experimenting with his new body, with the things it could and couldn't do.

He was currently sitting on the edge of a sheer cliff edge with his legs dangling off the edge freely. Below him was the biggest drop he had attempted yet. During the last couple of hours, all he had been doing was dropping himself off of high places after finding out that his body refused to be damaged in any way. He had tried stabbing himself, dropping heavy rocks on his legs in an attempt to break them, and other such feats in an attempt to damage himself; so far, nothing had been able to. So his final test, in his mind, consisted of simply dropping himself off of various cliff edges in an attempt to break something.

If someone at this point were to ask him what he would do if he did manage to injure himself, perhaps badly, then he would have shrugged his shoulders. When Louise had told him his entire family was dead, his mind had stretched very thin, which is why he needed to leave the hospital, but when he had reacted outside the hospital, his mind had been thrown into chaos. His mind was not yet broken, but now it was twisted into a position it should not sit in.

Cal exhaled deeply and then lurched forward, sending his body cascading down the cliff head first. For the first couple of seconds he was free-falling, the wind rushed passed his face and his hair was blown flat on top of his head. Then an outcrop of rock caught him in the shoulder and spun him violently while at the same time breaking off. Cal span a number of times before his head crashed into the face of the cliff, leaving no mark on him but knocking chippings out of the rock, which halted his spinning motion and sent him on a vertical dive to the rocks below.

The first layers of rocks, made up of smaller, movable ones, were obliterated as he crashed into them; his solid body sending them flying in all kinds of directions. When his body slammed into a much bigger boulder, he came to a halt, leaving cracks splintering along the surface. Cal lay there for a minute or two before sitting up and checking his body. Once again, there was no sign of any damage at all; he was perfectly fine after falling off a high cliff and smashing into the rocks below.

Cal slowly stood up and stretched off the muscles in his shoulders and arms, despite it having no benefit to his new body. He then looked up and took a second to gauge the distance back to the top of the cliff. Something else he had figured out was that he had strength beyond anything he had seen before, with one exception, and he had worked out that he could use that strength to leap massive distances into the air. Cal had to gauge the distance, because he had yet to find an upper limit to his leaps and didn't want to end up too high over his mark.

So with the distance gauged, he bent his legs slightly and with the apparent effort of hopping a couple of inches off the floor, he shot into the air, straight up towards the edge of the cliff he had just fallen off. He had misjudged the height slightly and overshot by 10 feet, but as he arced forward, he touched down gently on the edge, the grass softening his landing somewhat.

He flattened his ruffled clothing and swept a hand over his hair, ruffling it as he went to resume it to its previous standing. As he did so, something in the clouded sky caught his attention, so he shielded his eyes with a cupped hand to get a better look. Usually, it wouldn't have gotten his attention; the only reason it had this time was because it seemed to be heading towards him. As Cal stared at the object while it drew closer, a loud roaring sound echoed across the top of cliff and washing over where Cal was standing.

Suddenly, the object changed course and dropped near-vertical to the floor, crashing into the ground and digging into the dirt deep enough that it supported the large cylindrical-type object. Cal used his just-controlled super speed to dash across to it and stopped in front of it.

On closer inspection, it wasn't as smooth as Cal had initially thought; it was covered in small ribs and a number of large gaps running along its length. It was a tall thing, standing close to 100 feet to its tip, and it made looking at it from such a close distance a problem if one wanted to see the whole thing. Taking this into account, Cal hopped backwards to get a better view; which turned out to be a surprisingly good decision.

As Cal landed a couple of feet from where he had been, the ground exploded in front of him and a quick glance up told him that the shot had come from the cylinder. Even before Cal could start to wonder what the hell was going on the gaps along the object became larger and a mechanical sound rung out around the area. Parts started spinning and moving, unlocking and locking in a different location, until it was no longer a simple cylinder but stood as some kind of humanoid mechanical robot.

"What the…" Cal started to say before the robot, as that is the only thing it could be called, raised an arm and with the sounds of mechanical movement, it changed into what could only be described as the barrel of a gun.

Even Cal's newly acquired high-speed movement was still too slow to allow Cal to dodge the beam of yellow energy the erupted from the end of the gun. He cursed himself as he bent his knees to move, but by that time the beam slammed into his chest and completely surrounded his upper body.

Cal cried out and raised his arms in an attempt to protect his body, by the energy seemed to ignore him and passed through his arms to slam into his chest. The beam was continuous for a number of seconds before lessening and stopping completely, leaving a stunned Cal stood, smoking from where the attack had hit him.

As Cal slowly lowered his arms, he noticed that despite the fact his top was shredded to pieces, he seemed to have sustained no actual injures. Taking it as good luck his body could withstand whatever the robot had thrown at him, Cal dashed forward with his super-speed and leapt up to the robots chest, a fist drawn back with intent to punch it in the chest.

However, the robot was quicker then it looked as it twisted its entire body until Cal was face-to-face with its cannon again. "Damn…" he said before the beam fired instantly again and slammed into his body. Since he was in mid-air, this time he was sent somersaulting backwards before crashing into the floor and creating a small crater in the process. Cal gritted his teeth, but once again he seemed to be uninjured. His clothes on the other hand weren't as lucky, leaving him in the tattered remains of his jeans.

"I don't know who the hell you are, or what the hell that attack is meant to be, but it's not working, so buzz off!" he called, standing up and brushing dirt from his arms. "Before I'm forced to do something ugly."

"Solar Energy." A voice said, and Cal spun around to see a suited man walking up to him from behind.

"What?" Cal replied, crossing his arms and keeping a wary eye on the robot which now stood completely still.

"That's what it was firing at you; Solar Energy. It's the reason you're still in one piece, in fact it's more than that." The man replied. "I'm Director Amar Watson, I run S.T.A.R.T. Labs."

"S.T.A.R.T." Cal exclaimed, recognising the name. "That's where…"

"Yes, that's where your parents worked, and they did some incredible work as well to be honest. In fact, the reason you're now able to do all the things you can do is all down to them." Amar said, placing his arms behind his back and clasping one wrist in his hand. "Although I'm not sure they would agree with what you plan to do with them."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a fairly old individual, Cal, so it's safe to say I've gained quite a bit in terms of life experience. It also means that I can tell a person's goal simply by gazing into their eyes, and you Cal, you're aiming for revenge." Amar shrugged slightly and turned his back to Cal, gazing out across the sea. "But far be it from me to prevent you getting what you want, just hear me out for a second."

"Why were you firing Solar Energy at me?" Cal asked, trying to change the subject.

"Because that's what you run on now." Amar spun around with a smile on his face. "It's a piece of genius technology developed by your parents. Your body is now a battery with the ability to store an immeasurable amount of solar energy, this energy in turn powers your new abilities. It is a spectacular device and…one of a kind. Your parents died before they could share the secrets to this."

"Killed, Mr Watson, my parents were killed."

"Killed then, Cal, but back to my proposition in regards to your revenge driven plans. As I said before, I'm not here to stop you getting revenge; I just want to give you the best possible chance in taking down the one who killed your family."

Cal narrowed his eyes. "What do you propose, Mr Watson?"

"Join my team!" Amar replied, spreading his arms wide. "Join my team and lead them into battle against our enemies."

"No." Cal said without hesitation. "This isn't a 'team' activity, Mr Watson. If that is all you have to say, you can leave now." Cal turned to walk away but stopped as Amar cleared his throat.

"Now, now, Cal, let's not be hasty. That's simply my polite way of saying that I can't let you wander about unmonitored; you are S.T.A.R.T. labs property after all."

"What?" Cal said with a low growl, turning slowly to face the stern business man.

"Or rather, I should say the technology that now runs you is property of S.T.A.R.T. labs, and as such I'll need to take you back to the lab. Why not do it on your terms and lead a team of other unique individuals?"

"Others?" Cal's anger had subsided slightly.

"You are quite clearly the most unique Cal, but you are not the only one. The technology your parents created was the ultimate form of a program we have been working on for years."

"Enough Mr Watson, I'm not joining your team so you can get lost now."

"I cannot accept 'no' for an answer, I'm afraid Cal. You're going to have to come with me." Amar's voice had become sinister and Cal switching his gaze across to the robot which had started to move again, the other arm transforming into a barrel this time. "This time, it won't be Solar Energy I'm firing at you."

A green light started to emit from the darkness of the barrel, but Cal wasn't about to wait and find out what it was Amar had in store for him. So instead, he leaped the short distance to the robot, landing on its chest and digging his fingers into the metal to retain his balance, before grabbing the new weapon with his free hand. Then with the effort of tearing a piece of paper in half, Cal twisted his body and pulled the arm free of the body.

The arm weapon came away from the torso with no resistance, easily breaking under Cal's strength as he ripped it free. A trail of wires snaked out, tearing and snapping under the pressure as small stars of electricity jumped from the new hole in the robots side. Cal didn't stop there though, as he dropped the arm to the ground and spun his whole body around catching his foot on the side of the robots head and jerking it to the side. Once again, the robot couldn't stand up to the force and its whole body was thrown sideways before crashing into the ground with Cal standing on its head.

Cal placed one foot on the ground and stamped the other one down, directly onto the side of the robots head, reducing it to crumbs and debris. "That's what happens to anyone who gets in my way, Mr Watson. I suggest you don't interfere with me any longer."

Throughout Cal's assault on the robot, Amar had stood stock still with not a flicker of emotion on his face. Now, a large smile was spread across it as he nodded to Cal's threat. "Impressive Cal, I'll listen to your demands for now but don't think I'll leave you alone forever."

"Whatever." Cal said and turned to walk away. He stopped and bent his legs slightly to leap away, only to stop once more at Amar's cough.

"I'd start in Metropolis." Amar said, his wily grin still present. "If I were you, of course."

Cal didn't reply to that and exploded into a massive leap, quickly disappearing from view as Amar burst out laughing and pulled a mobile phone from his pocket.


	8. The Clash

**- 6 -**

**- The Clash -**

As soon as Cal had touched down, after leaving Amar Watson and his robot, he had sprinted off and was now running flat out. He was still thinking about what Mr Watson had said, especially about his ability running on solar energy. He was also thinking about the fact he was missing half his clothes thanks to the robot's energy beam. Cal was so deep in thought that he didn't even realise that he had long ago left the land behind, and was now running along the surface of the sea; cutting his way through waves with no trouble at all.

By the time he realised this, he managed to keep his surprise from sending him crashing into the sea. Instead, he increased the tempo slightly and sped up his run. Cal didn't know exactly where he was heading but he knew at least he was going to return to America, he had had enough of England for a lifetime. He thought back to his final words with Mr Watson, and wondered whether he should take the advice and head to Metropolis; although he wasn't sure what he would find there.

He shrugged to himself inwardly and concentrated on running. Soon enough his feet hit land again and he touched down in America. Without stopped he wondered where he should go, and in the end decided the best place would be Metropolis. He didn't want to go anywhere near home at the moment, and apparently there was something in Metropolis that would be of interest for him. So with a quick change of direction, and accelerating once again, he shot off towards Metropolis.

Considering the speed that Cal was moving at, it didn't take very long before he was stepping over the city limit and entering what the world referred to as the 'City of the Future'; Metropolis. As the nickname implied, Metropolis was a sprawling city of massive skyscrapers of shining glass, buildings as long as the skyscrapers were tall, and 6 lane wide roads filled with cars.

Cal wasn't sure what time of day it was, the sun was up at least, but he guessed the roads were probably packed at all times of the day. He had been to Metropolis only once before a couple of years ago and he remembered how much trouble it had been getting around anywhere; even the public transport was packed with people. However, he smiled a little bit as he sped past all the cars and people, and then leapt high into the air.

He landed with practiced skill on the top of an old-style skyscraper, in that it was mostly constructed of stone, and finally came to a stop. Being at the top of a building made it possible to get a good view of the section of the city he was in. Cal could see the glass buildings of the 'richer' section of Metropolis further ahead of him, leaving him in the lower end which, if Cal remembered correctly, was locally known as 'Old Metropolis'; since that's what it was.

It was only now, while he had come to a stop, that Cal suddenly realised he was wearing nothing more than the tattered remains of his jeans. He had forgotten that his confrontation with Watson's robot had reduced most of his clothing to non-existence. With that in mind, he crossed his arms and thought about his next step; getting some clothes.

He still had his wallet in his pocket, but he knew that if he used his card, no doubt Louise could track him down and for the moment, he didn't want that to happen. So without that, he didn't have any money to spend. This thought was only fleeting as he simply decided to run through a store and grab anything he needed; the thought of stealing didn't earn a second run through.

So with his decision made, he stepped up to the edge of the building and, using a trick he had learnt on the mountains, activated his speed to dash down the side of the building. He made sure to avoid the windows and ran down a central column like it was a sidewalk; with no trouble at all. Cal hopped the last few feet to the ground and accelerated across the pavement, the cars and people moving in slow motion to his eyes as he dodged his way down the path.

The first store he came too, which he decided would sell the clothes he was looking for, he dodged into. Then, like a whirlwind, he passed through the store, grabbing the items of clothing he liked, and then sped out again. He had moved fast enough that no-one had noticed, maybe feeling a breeze passing by them, and any security devices attached to the clothes didn't register because of the speed.

Cal ended up back on top of the building he had started on, dressed in his new clothes, having crushed the security tags off. He was now wearing black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black zip-up hoody. His feet were still bare, however, because the shop had not sold anything substantial. As Cal stood at the edge of the building, toes spread out on the rock, he looked down and noticed a small corner store advertising military equipment; like an army surplus. So once again he ran down the building, and dashed into the shop, grabbing a pair of boots and returning to his perch.

Now clothed again, Cal had to decide what to do next, his major concern being money. He had already decided not to use his own card but didn't really want to continue stealing everything he needed. However, he could only think of one way to get the money he needed and it would require a little bit more of breaking the law.

"It's not a big deal." He told himself quietly "It's not like I can settle in for a normal life anymore." He balanced along the edge of the building as he walked to the far side, gazing towards the tall glass buildings of the new Metropolis. "And there's only one place to get the money I need…but first, I need a way to disguise my identity."

A number of hours had passed since Cal had made his decision, and now he was confronted by a strange assortment of individuals.

"Hi, I'm Matt and we are the Risers; care to join us?" the white haired figure in front of him was saying.

Cal let a grin slid onto his face, keeping up impressions was important after all, and looked along the line of people. They all wore the same clothes, clearly some kind of uniform obviously, that consisted of a black t-shirt, a black belt with a number of pouches attached, black combat trousers, and black combat boots. Although the basis of the uniform was the same, each person had individually altered theirs slightly. Most notable was a female whose top was cut very low on her chest, and a man who seemed to be wearing clothes several sizes too big for his small frame.

"Perhaps I should explain this further, you seem somewhat confused." Matt continued. "The Risers is a group of…unique individuals all gathered by the Director in order to bring control to the world. Of course, the Director gave us a little boost in order to achieve this goal, as well as some special privileges."

"Stop there." Cal said, slinging the money bag in his hand, over his shoulder. "This 'Director' he's not called Watson is he?"

"Amar Watson, yes." Matt replied, turning to his female partner next to him, who was inspecting her nails. "How did you know that?"

"I had a little run in with him the other day, and my response still stands; get lost."

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen." One of the other females said, stepping forward. She was wearing what seemed to be the standard cut of uniform; the only difference was that she was wearing black sweat bands around her wrists. "We've been given the order to bring you in, whether we have to knock you out to do that or not."

"Launi!" Matt said, looking back at her with annoyance.

Launi shrugged "Well it's true."

"Do you think you could?" Cal said, twisting his head to the side as he spoke.

"Well, we outnumber you quite significantly and no matter what power you possess I'd estimate it is not on the same level as all of us." The woman next to Matt said, crossing her arms and finally laying her eyes on Cal.

"Joanne's right; so why don't you come with us quietly." Matt said, clearly trying to defuse the situation.

"I'm with Matt on this one." Another one of the men said, his uniform only altered by the black gloves he was wearing. "Just come quietly."

"Shut up, Cross. I'm taking him down!" the man in the loose fitting clothing shouted as he jumped off the bonnet he had been leaning on and started running towards Cal. As he ran, his skin seemed to ripple and he physically ballooned outwards so that his loose clothing was now tight around bulging muscles. It also made him nearly a foot taller than Cal and his arms seemed to be basketballs.

He came within arm length and swung his arm high in order to attack from above Cal's height. Cal grinned and clenched his free fist by his side before swinging up, intending to clash fist-to-fist, crushing the muscled idiot's in the process. However, before the two fists made contact they stopped about a foot apart, crashing into something invisible. The two fists shook for a second before the invisible force expanded and both Cal and the muscle-head were pushed away from each other forcefully.

"Leon, don't start things you can't finish!" Joanne said, her arm held at shoulder height with her palm facing towards the direction of the invisible force.

"Interesting, you have abilities as well; and here I thought I was the only one." Cal said, lowering his bag to the ground to free up his other hand. "I don't suppose you all had accidents to gain your powers?"

"I said didn't I? The Director gave us a little 'boost' to help us achieve the company's goal. We all volunteered, despite not knowing exactly what we were in for." Matt explained, eyeing Leon carefully as he was still muscled up.

"I see, you were experimented on." Cal said, frowning. "That's a damn shame, but if you're not going to get out of my way, I need to move you." The invisible force was still in front of him, but Cal sped round it before slowing down in front of Joanne; the one creating the force.

"Damn!" Joanne said as she dropped her hands in front of her and Cal felt another force start to build between him and her. He didn't wait and pushed forward, his strength clearly more than the force could fight.

"Hana! Sora!" Matt called out, diving away from Cal as he did so.

As Cal stepped within arms distance of Joanne, who had begun to jump backwards, he felt one force knock his outreached hand away, and a second force slam into his face. It didn't hurt him but he stopped in his tracks having not expected it. This was taken advantage off as Leon appeared behind, bigger than before, and slammed both his hands into Cal's back with an overhead axe attack.

He hit with enough force that Cal was slammed into the ground, creating a small crater, and sending cracks running along the road; big enough that the surrounding police cars moved. Leon didn't let up as he slammed a giant fist into Cal again, and then again, and then again, until he was pummelling Cal further and further into the ground. As he punched, he grew in size again until he was taller and more muscled than a human could ever be.

"Leon, enough!" Matt shouted and ran forward, and placing a hand on Leon's back. As he did so, thin tendrils of a clear liquid ran across Leon's back, making him jump and pull away from Matt. "Shrink down, now."

"You're not in charge of me!" Leon replied, his voice deep and gravelly thanks to his transformation.

"But I am, change down." Joanne said, pulling herself off the floor.

Leon growled but his skin began to ripple as he slowly shrunk, although he never reached his original size. Cal leapt out of the hole Leon had crushed him into and slammed a fist into his chest. Leon's face contorted with pain as Cal's fist dug into the muscles of his chest, before he was lifted off his feet and sent spiralling backwards. Leon was thrown all the way back to the bank, smashing through both sets of glass entrance doors, and crossing the main room before crashing into the security grating and sliding to the floor; his body shrinking back to original size in the process.

Both Joanne and Matt were frozen in surprise as Cal placed a hand on their chests and, with a gentle push, sent both of them flying backwards where they both crashed into police cars, leaving dents in the metal. Cal stepped forward, cracking his neck as he did, and looked around at the remaining Risers, a single crack in the right lens of his glasses the only indication he had just received a barrage of attacks.

Cal counted seven more Risers and slowly scanned along the line, watching the caution on their faces as they took in his attack on their leaders. There were four girls on Cal's right, including the pretty woman with a low-cut top and one wearing dark glasses over her eyes. On Cal's left was a woman sporting a strange headband that seemed to be shaped like a pair of dragon wings, another girl with rings covering one hand, and the only remaining man who wore the black gloves and Leon had referred to as Cross.

Cal smiled and jerked forward, without actually moving, gaining him the reaction he was waiting for. Immediately the pretty girl with the low cut started moving forward, transparent spheres appearing in her hands as she did, and Cal headed towards her. However, as they were about to collide, Cal disappeared and appeared in front of the girl with rings on her hand and hair down to her elbows. She had what seemed to be a deck of cards in her hand, and as Cal approached she grabbed a card and threw it in his direction.

"4 of Clubs!" she shouted and the card steadied in the air before expanding in size, comparing to a cathedral door, and was clear purple.

"Sora!" the man next to her called as Cal approached.

Cal wasn't perturbed by this and with an outstretched hand; he shattered the card with a sharp push. The girl called Sora had eyes open in surprise as Cal placed a hand on her chest and threw her backwards; she crashed into the bonnet of a police car and flipped over it before landing on the other side unconscious. As Cal turned, Cross was reaching out to touch him, gloves gone from his hands, but Cal simply grinned and sped over to the other side, appearing in front of the pretty woman.

She instantly threw her globes to the ground, causing the tarmac to morph into a musky swamp, but Cal simply leaped over it and clamped his hand over her face. The woman showed panic in her eyes as Cal tipped her back and slammed her head into the ground, knocking her out.

"Lianne!" the girl with glasses called, stepping forward, only to meet Cal head on.

The glasses girl raised a hand and Cal felt an invisible force slam into his chest. He grinned and reached through the force, grabbing her outstretched arm and jerking her in close. "So that was you earlier?" he questioned before lifted her over his shoulder and slamming her into the ground by her arm. Cal turned again and found the woman with red hair leering over him with a fist drawn back to punch him.

Cal didn't hesitate, spinning with his super speed, and punched her hand off course, and then backhanding her in the side of the head; sending her crumpling to the floor. He turned again to find the final woman near him, the one called Launi, her skin rippling menacingly. Cal moved towards her but suddenly sped over to the other side, appearing by the girl with the purple headband shaped like a pair of dragon wings.

She stared at him intently and then stepped back with surprise, clear panic bubbling onto the surface. "Mira!" Cross called, moving across to her. Cal lifted an arm and formed his fingers into a flicking shape, which he then used to flick Mira away from Cross. Cross looked a little angry as he approached Cal again, but Cal shook his head before appearing over by Launi again.

He swung to hit her in the head but as his hand made contact, her head burst into water. Taken by surprise, Launi's whole body turned to water before moving forward and engulfing Cal completely. Cal wasn't worried about drowning, which appeared to be her goal as she became a land-based whirlpool around him, but however he swiped at her, he was still stuck. He frowned and then changed tactics, slamming his fist into the ground, which crumbled away. Launi, in water form, had to pull away to stop from dropping down the newly formed hole, and Cal simply jumped the other way to get out of her trap. He turned to face her as she rounded the whole to get to him, still a whirlpool, and took a deep breath in. Then with the force of a hurricane, he exhaled and she was blown backwards before returning to normal and slamming into a car.

Cal turned to take out the final person, Cross, but found him already by his side, placing an un-gloved hand on his arm. Cal pushed him away quickly, punching the wind out of him, but he saw Cross grimace slightly. "What?" he said, unable to hold himself back, suspecting the grimace was not from Cal's attack.

"I do not take pleasure in it, but this fight is finished." Cross said, dropping onto his behind and pointing at Cal's arm where he had touched him.

Cal looked down to see a clear crystal-like substance completely covering his arm, and quickly moving up his neck. "What the…!?" he said as he shook his arm, to no avail, as the crystal quickly moved across his entire body until only his head was left with free movement. Cal snarled, using it to hide a panicked expression, as the crystal moved up and covered his head completely, leaving him frozen in place.

Cross sighed and put his gloves back on but then looked up in surprise when a large snap sounded in the air. In front of him, the frozen Cal's crystal prison had a large crack through it along the arm. "Impossible." Cross said, just as the crystal on the arm shattered and Cal through a piece of crystal at Cross. Cross was too surprised to act and the chunk of rock slammed into his head, knocking him unconscious as the rest of the crystal was shattered by an angry Cal as he flexed his body.

"Not bad, but I win. Now, it seems we've got some unwanted attention so I'm out of here." He muttered and with a push off from the floor, he leapt into the air and landed on one of the skyscrapers in the area.

As he leapt away, Matt had regained consciousness and was looking at where Cal had gone too. "Joanne, you awake?" he said as, Joanne stirred and rolled onto her back. "Take the fliers and chase after him."

She nodded and jumped to her feet just as a helicopter flew around the corner of one of the tall buildings and moved towards them; the side of the chopper read 'Daily Planet News Chopper'.

_* Credit for submitted Characters will be given in one go, at the end._


	9. Newsworthy

**- 7 -**

**- Newsworthy -**

After the dramatic title sequence came to an end, the music fading into the background, the screen changed from the title into a man sitting behind a highly polished desk. The man's skin was clearly tanned, and his hair was cut into a short buzz cut. He was wearing a dark blue suit jacket, with a white shirt and dark red tie at his neck. Below him on the screen, a box spun into existence with his name on it, reading 'Orlando Mettel'.

"Hi, I'm Orlando Mettel, and welcome to the Daily Planet News Network." Orlando said, flashing whiter-than-white teeth. "Now, as I'm sure you know, this is not our normal broadcasting time. However, an emergency in uptown Metropolis needs to be brought to the attention of the residents of this city. Of course, the Daily Planet is here for just this purpose." He flashed his smile again as a picture appeared in the upper right of TV screens everywhere, showing a picture of uptown Metropolis.

"What started as a simple attempt to steal from the Metropolis Central Bank, a foolish notion to begin with…" he chuckled to himself as he leant with one arm on his desk. "…the situation has now spiralled into a spectacle no-one was expecting. We know go to Derek Roberts, who is live on scene right now; Derek?" the picture in the top right faded into a live screen, with a main stood in the centre, before expanding to fill the screen completely. Derek Roberts was a stocky short individual, and he was sporting a brown suit, white shirt and yellow tie.

"Orlando." He said, speaking into a microphone sporting the Daily Planet News Network's logo and holding his tie down with his other hand. "I'm on the roof of Cervantine Electronics, a mere block away from the bank, where moments ago the potential bank thief was confronted by some sort of special tactical team. I'm not sure exactly what team it is, but I can say that they entered the area in plain helicopters. I can't get any closer because of a police cordon, but from what I can see, I don't want to."

"The confrontation between the team and the criminal has apparently come to an end and we have the news chopper on site now."

The picture changed from Derek, to a shaking picture showing the scene from the front of the bank. It showed a crater, a number of cracks running through the road, and a number of individual's lying on the floor in various places. One of them was stumbling towards another as the chopper circled around, zooming on them as it did. "I don't know what happened here, we've just arrived on scene, but it seems as though the tactical team has been all but wiped out. As you can see, devastation runs through…wait, what the hell is that!?" the voice said as something burst from the front of the bank and suddenly leaped towards them.

"Swing out the way!" the voice said as the helicopter veered to no avail as a humungous figure slammed into its side and a hand the size of a dustbin lid covered the camera lens before it cut out to static.

"Take the fliers and chase after him." Matt said as he pulled himself to his feet. Joanne nodded in replied and rolled to a sitting position before standing up by leaning on the car. "He's powerful, be careful."

"Of course." Joanne replied, moving over to Scarlett and rousing her quickly. With the help of the ones they awakened, Matt and Joanne had all the team, except Leon, on their feet; shaky but active. "It seems he didn't hit us very hard on purpose." Joanne said as she pulled Sora to her feet.

"Still hit like a train though." Lianne said, rubbing her head.

"True enough. Anyway I need Launi, Sora, Mira and Scarlett to come with me; we're going to chase after him from the air." As she spoke, Joanne stepped up into the air and stayed there, hovering about a foot off the floor. The others nodded and each in turn activated their flying abilities.

Scarlett looked at Joanne and then did the same thing, stepping up about a foot into the air and then stood on something solid that couldn't be seen, Launi's body rippled and she completely transformed into an eagle, Mira stared at Launi for a second before she copied her, although she became a bald eagle, and Sora reached into one of her webbing pouches and withdrew one of her cards.

"3 of Spades!" she called out and threw the card down in front of her. Immediately the card grew in size equal to a surfboard and gained a slight edge. Sora hopped up onto it and it lifted off the ground to hover in the air on an unseen propulsion system. "Let's go." She said with her hands on her hips.

"Follow me." Joanne said and with a slight lean forward she shot off down the road before pulling up into the air and heading in the direction Cal had jumped before. Immediately in pursuit was Launi the eagle, followed by Scarlett flying in the same way Joanne was, then Sora on her flying card, then Mira followed last in line in her own eagle form.

"What are we going to do?" Cross said, rubbing his own head as Matt sat on the bonnet of one of the police cars.

"Joanne will probably send a signal when she finds him…" Matt started uncertainly, getting stronger with each word. "But for now…" he stopped at the sound of helicopter blades and the remaining Risers looked up to see a helicopter round the corner of a building. "Damn, we'll need to get rid of that camera." Matt said, indicating the logo on the side.

"How do we do that?" Hana said, stumbling over to Matt. "We can't exactly shoot it out of the air.

"No, we'll have to…" Matt stopped talking as a window of the bank exploded and Leon jumped through, supersized to beyond human standards.

Leon bounded out of the building and immediately leaped into the air, heading straight towards the helicopter. The vehicle swung away to get out of his range, but he was too quick as he slammed into its side and crushed the camera with one massive hand. He then drew his fist back before deciding against it and pushing off the helicopter, pushing it further away, and landing with a crash on a police car, crushing it near flat.

"Leon, are you alright."

"I don't need your sympathy, Riverstadt, that bastard just hit harder than I was expecting; where are the others?" Leon replied, shrinking down to about 7 feet.

"I've sent the fliers after him, they'll find him faster than us on the ground."

"Damn you, I'm not letting him get away with that!" Leon said as he grew in size again and started off in the direction the others had flown. "I'll deal with him."

As Matt started forward to stop him, Leon leaped away and started after the other half of the group. "Leon, damn it!" Matt called, but with no avail.

Back with the flying group, Joanne had formed them into an extended line to get a better view of the rooftops they were covering. Much sooner than she was expecting, there was a loud cry and Launi the eagle swept out of formation and was headed towards a roof covered in blue vents.

Joanne indicated for the team to follow, and as they did, Joanne saw Cal sitting on one of the vents staring at his hands as if they were the most interesting thing on the planet. As they approached, his head jerked up and he turned just in time to have Launi smash into him, now a fully grown brown bear; claws and all. There was a second where nothing happened, and then Launi the bear was thrown off the building like she was made of paper. She wasn't worried though as she transformed back into an eagle and took to the air again.

By this time, Joanne had reached him and with outstretched arms she created two forces either side of him and slammed them together. Cal didn't as much as flinch this time, instead he slammed his elbows out and countered the force with the sheer strength of his arms. Joanne was caught off guard by this and swerved out of the way as a length of piping flew in her direction.

Her attack and given enough time for the others to appear on Joanne's command, they surrounded him while trying to look as threatening as possible. "Looks like you were taking it too easy back there; we're still ready to take you down." Joanne said, readying forces in her hand.

"I don't think you guys know when to give up." Cal said, looking up at Joanne. "I was being kind back there so I didn't end up killing you, but don't think I'll do that a second time."

"Come on, hoody, you look like a bit of a wimp to me." Launi said, her voice coming from monkey that was clinging to an aerial.

"Enough of this farce, come at me or I'll leave in a way that you cannot follow me." Cal said, clenching his fists visibly.

"Mira." Joanne said, crossing her arms and looking across at the dragon band girl.

"I'm sorry, Joanne, it seems it doesn't work on him." She replied sheepishly, her voice coming from German shepherd sat on its haunches on the edge of the building.

"Damn, guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned wa…" she didn't finish her sentence as Cal appeared directly in front of her, close enough that he was standing on the force keeping her afloat.

Without a word he punched her in the gut with enough force to wind her and to make her bend over forwards with pain. When she did that, Cal slammed his elbow into the back of her head. This knocked her clean out, meaning the force holding them both in the air disappeared and they both suddenly plummeted towards the ground.

"Damn." Cal said as he fell past the edge of the building.

The others leaped into action, Scarlett sliding to the position Joanne had been in and reached out of hand in their direction. Joanne hit something solid and came to a stop as Cal passed by it and continued his fast descent towards the street below. Launi and Mira had both shot after Cal himself and when they were within in reach, Launi changed into jet-powered spear and shot towards him while Mira changed into a long chain and quickly spun herself around Cal, trapping him.

Cal flexed momentarily but stopped and looked at the chain with a thoughtful expression. "If I break this, would you die?" he asked.

Mira's voice appeared from the chain "I wouldn't know, ask Launi, it's her power." She said, giving Cal something to think about.

He didn't have long before Launi shot into his chest, above Mira the chain, and stopped dead. They were still falling fast but Launi's attack had failed so she turned into a red balloon and started floating up. Mira decided that following suite would be the best idea just as she saw Sora raise one of her cards in the air.

"10 of Diamonds!" she shouted and the card morphed into a beam of light that shot down and slammed into Cal's chest.

Cal called out as the clothes on his chest were blown to pieces, leaving his body unharmed though, and he was sent faster towards the ground. "Only managed to do this once, hopefully I can do it again before I hit the ground." He muttered as he spun around and straightened his body out.

The Risers looked on as he plummeted, no doubt hoping the impact would render him immobile, but gasped as he suddenly slowed and stopped in mid-air. Slowly he rotated, so that he was upright, and then wobbled slightly before straightening his legs and spreading his arms as though he was keeping balance on a thin beam. Cal then looked up at the girls above him and slowly started to rise.

"Is there anything this guy can't do!?" Scarlett cried as Cal sped up and suddenly appeared way above them in the sky.

"Whoops, too far. I'll need to practice more." Cal said before steadying himself and looking down at his opponents. "I'll finish you quickly and get the hell out of here."

"You're mine!" a roar called out and a figure the size of a bus appeared from above them, clearing having jumped off one of the taller buildings, and crashed into Cal, sending them both cascading towards the vent-covered roof.

Without stopping, the two of them crashed into the roof and it was unable to take the impact as they crashed through it and into the room below. They weren't done there though, as the floor below was smashed completely and they crashed down even further. They were halfway down before they came to a stop with Cal trapped beneath the giant Leon; who was readying to attack.


	10. A Test of Strength

**- 8 -**

**- A Test of Strength -**

Cal didn't even hear him coming before it was too late, not even having time to turn around before something insanely strong slammed into his back. Even if he had been on the ground he would have had a bit of trouble fully stopping the attack, but in the air he had no chance at all. As the figure slammed into him, it wrapped its massive arms around him to prevent escape and they both tumbled towards the roof of the building Cal had landed on before. He couldn't stop them as they crashed into it, shattering the layers of materials as though it was glass, and smashing into the floor below; and then carrying on down further floors before finally coming to a stop.

Cal had managed to spin himself around within the grasp of the giant so that he crashed into the floor back first, spreading the impact into a shallow crater. The creature on top of him was clearly something out of a nightmare; with its skin a dark threatening red, muscles seeming trying to break out of its skin, and eyes seemingly completely black. It had white hair on its head, which was in a complete mess, and was only wearing the tattered remains of black combat trousers.

"Oh, I know you." Cal said, blocking an incoming punch with an open palm, stopping it dead. "You're the one from earlier, who I sent flying right? Leon, was it?" Leon slammed down his other fist, but once again Cal caught it in an open palm. "It seems like you're going to give me the most trouble out of your little gang, but don't think you can stop me!" He shouted the last few words and jerked his arms to the side, sending Leon flying sideways where he crashed into the wall, shaking the room and sending cracks running along the roof and walls.

"Quite the monster, aren't you?" Cal asked, getting to his feet and brushing dust off his clothes.

"I won't let you embarrass me again, punk!" Leon said, his voice sounding like he had eaten nails recently. "I'll take you down and drag you back by your hair." He roared and his muscles bulged even more before he shrunk down enough to fit into the room, his muscles taking on a more prominent definition. "Come here and die!"

Leon charged forward at an impressive speed, considering his bulk, with arms held low and ready to grapple. Cal glanced around quickly, taking in that they were stood in some kind of office complex, and couldn't see any people in the immediate area. Either there were none to begin with, or they had all made a run for it while Cal and Leon and been smashing through the floors. Cal also noticed that there was an alarm running in the background, which he identified as the fire alarm.

_Good, that means everyone will be getting out of the building if they're not already, I can experiment a little bit. _Cal thought as he focused back on Leon, who was getting closer. With a grin on his face, Cal bent into a similar position and the two of them clashed with enough force that the floor beneath their feet splintered.

Leon was practically snarling, while Cal kept a cool demeanour, before swinging a wild haymaker at Cal's head. Cal replied by raising his arm to block the attack, but there was so much strength behind it that he was forced to the side by about a foot. Surprised by the attack, Cal didn't hesitate to return the blow and ducked inside Leon's reach to deliver a massive shot to his ribs.

Leon called out as he was pushed to the side, Cal's blow hitting with enough force to move his massive body, but wasn't about to take the attack lying down as he raised an arm above his head and crashed it down on top of Cal. Cal received the attack with crossed arms, but he was still pushed slightly, digging footprints into the floor with the power. With expert precision he kicked out and caught Leon in the side of his knee, making him stumble forward, right into a left uppercut Cal sent flying, cracking Leon in the jaw.

Leon was lifted off the floor and his head smashed into the ceiling, creating a hole. Cal didn't let up though as he jumped up and slammed another upper cut into Leon's chest, pushing him further up, while pushing back at the same time. The result was Leon's huge body creating a chasm in the floor above, allowing desks and other related office furniture to fall down. Leon recovered enough to land on his feet and grabbed a desk, sending it flying in Cal's direction. Cal didn't flinch as he slapped it out of the way, only for Leon to appear behind it and deliver a punch to Cal's chest with the power of a train.

Cal was flung back into the far wall, sending more cracks along the walls and floor, before Leon charged him again. Cal dropped to one knee, shaking his head to recover, before lifting both hands above his head and slamming them into the floor. It worked like he had planned as a massive break snapped towards Leon's feet before the whole floor collapsed and both fighters were sent tumbling down to the floor below.

Cal was first to recover, as Leon roared in anger, as he dashed forward to attack. Leon swung wildly but Cal simply ducked under his attack with a role and then slammed an elbow into his side. He used more strength this time and Leon was sent flying into the far wall; which he hit and then smashed all the way through, with Cal in quick pursuit. Cal burst from the wall to see a flailing Leon trying to right himself in mid-air.

With a push off from the wall, Cal sent himself like a missile at Leon and crashed into him, slamming his shoulder into his stomach. Leon cried out again as the both of them slammed into the wall of the opposite building and into the room inside. Leon rolled away, as Cal slid to a stop and adjusted his coat around his arms.

"Wow, you've got one resilient body there." Cal said, rolling his shoulders as he approached the fallen Riser.

"You're pretty good at fighting yourself. Where the hell did you get that good?" Leon said, pulling himself up to one knee.

"Nowhere, I just let my instincts get on with it; no point letting things get complicated." Cal said, shrugging his shoulders. "So, can you lie off for now; just tell your team mates that I escaped."

"Like hell!" Leon said and charged forward again.

Cal nearly sighed but decided against it as he stepped forward quickly and got on the inside of Leon's outstretched arms. He grabbed one of Leon's arms and his side, before twisting violently and sending him flying back towards the initial building, quickly jumping after him.

Leon corrected himself in time to smash through the wall unharmed and land on his feet, allowing him to turn in time to receive both of Cal's boots to his face. He was flung backwards, a small trail of blood flying from his mouth, before he slammed into the wall.

"Well, what do you know, you do bleed." Cal said before rushing forwards.

Leon was expecting it this time though and dashed forward at an even greater speed than Cal, slamming into him before he was expecting it. Thanks to that, Cal was lifted off his feet and pushed all the way back to the far wall again. Leon didn't stop there though and slammed Cal's body into it, rearing back and then doing it again, this time completely smashing through the wall again. The two of them flew backwards but before Cal had time to break free, they slammed into the ground, cleaving a parked car clean in two.

While they had been fighting, Cal hadn't even realised that they had been getting lower and lower with each clash. As civilians screamed and got away from them as fast as possible, Cal plied Leon's arms apart and used his foot to flip him over his head into the centre of the road. The cars had already skidded to a stop away from the pair, so Cal and Leon had a fair amount of space to continue their fight; although Cal was getting slightly nervous now they were on ground level.

Suddenly the sky went dark, and as Cal and Leon looked up, a large dome dropped out of the sky and completely surrounded them; while also blocking the view from outside. "Keep him occupied for a bit longer, Leon, the others are on their way." A voice said as a face appeared in the far side of the dome.

"Launi, what the hell are you doing?!" Leon said

"Just making sure your face isn't plastered across the internet. Now keep him busy!" Launi said before her face disappeared again.

Leon shook his head before turning back to Cal, only to find him practically on top of him. "Enough." Cal said simply and punched Leon in the gut so hard, Leon felt like his spine had been punched out of his back. As he bent over to clasp at his stomach, Cal slammed the back of his elbow into the back of his head, slamming him into the floor. "I've finished experimenting now, so I need to go." Cal said before turning and starting to walk towards the edge of the dome, only to be stopped as Leon grabbed his leg.

"I'm not done yet, asshole." He said as Cal rounded on him. "Do you think you can actually finish me o…!?" he started to say before Cal punched him in the face.

The blow was so hard that Leon's head was forced into the road about an inch, as he looked up at Cal who was now stood above him; then Cal started the barrage. He started by focusing on his head, slamming his fist into his face over and over again. With every punch, Leon's head became even more embedded into the asphalt; then blood spurted from his nose with a sickening crack, indicating a broken nose.

As the crack echoed around the dome, Cal stopped punching and stared down at the apparently unconscious Leon. "Finished at last, eh?" he said with a sigh.

"Like…hell." Leon replied, grinning from beneath the blood of his nose.

Cal snarled and raised a clenched fist above his head, before swinging it down onto Leon's chest. The blow had enough power in it that Leon's body was buried into the ground in a crater, as well as sending a physical wave along the road that jerked the dome into the air, and sent cars in the area bouncing on their suspension; setting alarms off as it went. Cal pulled back and stared as Leon slowly raised and arm to grab him.

"Damn." He said before raising his other fist and slamming that one into Leon, sending another shockwave, this time raising parts of road into the air and sending cracks along the sides of buildings, shattering windows in the process. Leon's arm fell to the ground and Cal took a step back, catching his breath as he stared at Leon lying on the ground. "A damn tough one." He muttered before watching as Leon's eyes fluttered open and he attempted to move.

With eyes wide in anger, Cal jerked forward and slammed a fist full force into Leon's body. The ground exploded around them, as bits of stone were thrown into the air, cars were flipped onto their roofs, and sections of buildings actually fell off. Leon's body was dug so far into the ground it looked like someone had buried him there, the top half covered nearly completely in earth and stone. Cal stepped away from him and dropped into a sitting position. "Hopefully you're not dead." He said, daring Leon to get up; he didn't.

Cal slowly pulled himself to his feet and walked over to the edge of the dome, tapping it slightly. "Launi, was it?" he asked, Launi's face appearing in the edge of the dome. "I don't want to hurt you, so let's say you move out the way so I can go."

Launi looked like she was about to reject the idea but when Cal clenched his fist at his side, a door appeared in the wall, allowing Cal to exit. As soon as he closed the door behind him, it disappeared and Cal guessed it would stay there until the other Risers appeared. He looked around to see the destruction and shrugged, before he sped off; disappearing from view completely.

The rest of the Risers appeared not long after and Launi returned to her original form as they approached. The fliers slowly descended from above, the unconscious Joanne being held by Scarlett, while Matt and the others rushed over to the centre of the destruction. As they approached the crater that Leon had been forced into, they initially couldn't see him; but then River pointed out a foot sticking out from the rubble, indicating that Leon had shrunken down to his original size, causing the ground to pretty much cover him completely.

With the help of River and Hana, Matt managed to pull Leon out of the crater and lay him on the ground; his injuries spreading across his body. Matt reached into one of his webbing belts and pulled out a slim phone-like object, which he activated with a touch of the screen and held in front of him.


End file.
